While some of those libraries are good, I love it when someone comes up with something even easier.  I found out on Twitter the other day about a great new open source library called Seriously which appears to be a very promising library for easy communication with web services and JSON parsing (XML parsing coming soon).

Just take a look at this code to grab the background image url from a twitter account:

    NSString *url = @"http://api.twitter.com/1/users/show.json?screen_name=probablycorey";

    [Seriously get:url handler:^(id body, NSHTTPURLResposne *response, NSError *error) {
        if (error) {
            NSLog(@"Got error %@", error);
        }
        else {
            NSLog(@"Look, JSON gets parsed into an dictionary");
            NSLog(@"%@", [body objectForKey:@"profile_background_image_url"]);
        }
    }];

Looks pretty good to me, short and sweet.

You can download Seriously on Github here:
http://github.com/probablycorey/seriously

If you liked this, please share it!

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

It can become even more difficult with multiple game objects moving around, and there is a need for those game objects to avoid each other or find the shortest path to another moving object.

It doesn’t help that most of the more advanced pathfinding information on the internet is usually written in the form of theoretical papers featuring obscure math formulas that can appear like a bunch of random wingdings to us mere mortal iPhone and iPad programmers.

Fortunately All-Seeing Active the company that released the fantastic asihttprequest library has released a co-operative pathfinding library.  Here’s why this is so good:

• It’s written in Objective-C so if you’re unfamiliar with C/C++ you can still look through the code and figure things out.
• It was actually written for iOS devices so there’s no conversion needed as with most of the readily available pathfinding libraries.  It can just be dragged right in.
• It’s co-operative so one object can easily avoid another, and you can cut other moving objects off
• It’s pretty fast as it was written to perform well on the original iPhone
• It was already used in a popular game in the app store: Space Harvest (which btw is really cool if you like space trading type games.)
• A fantastic example application is included, and the code is very well written and commented.  I was able to figure out the basics very quickly just by looking at the sample.

You can find the Github project page here:
http://github.com/pokeb/asi-path-finder

Thanks for reading, please share this if you find it interesting!

[Source: All Seeing Interactive]
[Via: Under The Bridge]

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

Playing sounds using Apple’s AVAudioPlayer is pretty simple, and there is quite a bit of instruciton on how to do that.

OpenAL is another story as most of the documentation and wrappers come from other platforms, and while there are a few libraries out there that wrap OpenAL commands into an easier to use library I’ve found a new one that I really like.

The librar is from Karl Stenerud and is known as Object-AL-for-iPhone.  What’s great about it is that he’s included some terrific demos so you can easily figure out how to do things such as pan multiple sounds, and change pitch with ease (see the picture above for the list of demos included).

The syntax is great, and changing the position of a sound source is an absolute breeze.  Karl has done a great job of documenting things and there is even a PDF file included with the Github project that lets you step right in and use it.  It’s very simple to just take the library, drop it into your project and get started.

Check out the github project here:
ObjectAL on Github

Btw, if you’ve created an open source library and need some exposure submit information about it here and I’ll be glad to check it out, and put it in front of the 2,000+ daily visitors to this site.

[Source: iDevGames]

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

Two iOS apps have been added:

1. Tweetee – A fork of the Natsulion twitter client with many added features such as Twitpic integration, tweet trends, and link saving.
2. SpaceBubble – A space game created using Core Graphics.

I’ve also updated the link to the Wikihow source code.

There are now 37 apps on the list which you can find here:
Open Source iPhone App Store Apps.

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

There are several iPhone game engines available, and of course Cocos2D is extremely popular in the development of 2D games on the iPhone and has a considerable community beside it.

That being said, if you’re just starting out, or you just don’t like how things are done with what’s out there I’ve found a great looking alternative.

While I’m not entirely sure of the direction this framework will take, I can tell you that it appears to be one very different from the Cocos2D philosophy to include everything that developers will ever want in a 2D game engine.

That alternative is the Sparrow Framework which is an open source game framework from Incognitek.  From what I’ve seen from looking at the framework it is very lightweight, and easy to use with all the core features you’d need to be able to create a good 2D game.

You can find the framework here: Sparrow Framework
Read about the features here: Sparrow Framework Features
And the philosophy behind the engine here: Sparrow Framework Philosophy

If you’re not sure about the alternatives, check out the Open Source iPhone and iPad Game Engine Comparison.

[Via: Nick Vellios]

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

Let’s face it.. getting app downloads is tough. There are over 200,000 apps out there, and it is very easy for an app to fade into obscurity.

Even free apps can suffer from this, you really have to get the word out there, and there are many different approaches.

One approach that has worked for one developer was to take their app, and release the source code. With so many people interested in iPhone development the app was able to go from 40 to about 1000 downloads in a day.

The app is SpaceBubble from Nick Vellios for which the iTunes link can be found here along with the source code.

The source code will be added to the Open Source iPhone App Store Apps listing.

[Source: Vellios.com]

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to the fourth iteration of this big list of open source iPhone apps.  For those that have seen similar listings on other sites using the exact wordings, and links below welcome to the source for the original list.

It can be tough to learn how to develop, especially when it comes to finding complete examples.  That’s why I put this list together.  Each of these apps has been in the app store, and all but one are in there right now.  So if you’re looking for an example of some real apps here they are.

Update: This list now actually contains 37 apps thanks to the additions of Tweetee and Spacebubble.  Also added was a link to a Github project created for those looking to download the wikihow source code.

Note to potential content thieves: I was amazed by the number of human edited sites that flat out copied this list without any attribution of any type (even the descriptions).. it seems so many copied that the original page on ManiacDev.Com (where I hope you’re reading this..) vanished from Google which wasn’t cool.  While this may just be a list it takes me hours each time I post it to put it together, find new apps, and check the links.

If you feel you have to copy this list in an effort to make a quick buck (I know the lack of money makes people do stupid things) I’ve got a better alternative for you… why not write a post about your favorite apps from this list, and link back to this page?  I’ll even give you a link back in the form of a trackback.  We’ll both get more visitors.

The Apps

Here is the list in alphabetical order:

1. ABC 123 – Sequence memorization game. Utilizes Cocos2D. (itunes link) (source code)

*2. Artifice – Strategy game where you try to get to the other side by moving boxes out of the way. Utilizes Cocos2D. (itunes link) (source code)

3. Colloquy – Conversion of the most popular Mac IRC client to the iPhone. (itunes link) (source code)

*4. Countitout - A generic counting app. (itunes link) (source code)

5. Diceshaker - Dice rolling simulator designed for role-playing game enthusiasts. (itunes link) (source code)

6. Doom Classic - Classic 3D first person shooter. (itunes link) (source code) (build instructions)

*7. Fosdem - Calendar app for the Fosdem open source conference. (itunes link) (source code)

8. Freshbooks – App that enables usage of Freshbooks web invoicing software from your iPhone. (itunes link) (source code)

9. Gorillas – Classic Worms/iShoot turn based shooter type game converted to iPhone from basic. Utilizes Cocos2D. (itunes link) (source code). 1249ouFh83XA

*10. Go Go Lotto – Open source lotto ticket generator. (itunes link) (source code)

11. Last.fm – Software that enables usage of the Last.fm platform for personal radio stations. (itunes link) (source code)

12. Mobilesynth - A monophonic synthesizer designed for live performance. (itunes link) (source code)

13. Molecules – Allows you to view 3D models of molecules and manipulate them through touch. (itunes link) (source code)

14. Mover – Allows you to transfer stuff from one iPhone to another by “flicking” it to the other device. (itunes link) (source code)

15. Natsulion - A basic twitter client converted from mac. (itunes link) (source code)

16. NowPlaying – Allows you to check local theater listings, and check rotten tomato ratings. (itunes link) (source code)

17. Packlog – Backpack journal client. (itunes link) (source code)

*18. PlainNote - Simple Open Source Notepad. (itunes link) (source code)

19. PocketFlix – Find movies, and manage your Netflix information. (itunes link) (source code)

*20. NevoChess – A Xiangqi game. (itunes link) (source code)

21. reMail – E-mail client featuring ultra-fast search. Removed from app store, but source made available. (source code)

22. RobotFindsKitten – Port of a very silly “classic” ASCII game. (itunes link) (source code)

23. Sci-15 HPCalc – Calculator app based on classic scientific HP-Calculator. (itunes link) (source code)

*24. SpaceBubble – Space game featuring core graphics, and accelerometer usage. (itunes link) (source code)

*25. Star3Map – Augmented reality star and planet charting application. (itunes link) (source code)

26. Task Coach – Personal to-do list and task manager. (itunes link) (source code)

27. Tubestatus – London train schedule tracker. (itunes link) (source code)

28. Tweejump – Platform jumping game inspired by Icy Tower. Utilizes Cocos2D. (itunes link) (source code)

*29. Tweetee – Enhanced version of the Natsulion Twitter Client. (itunes link) (source code)

30. Tweetero – Basic twitter client with image uploading. (itunes link) (source code)

31. Twitterfon – Super-fast intuitive twitter client. (itunes link) (source code)

* 32. ViralFire – Unique game where you are a dodging blood cell. (itunes link) (source code)

* 33. Wikihow – A reader app for the popular how to wiki site. (itunes link) (source code)

* 34. Wolfenstein 3D Classic Platinum – If you haven’t heard of Wolfenstein post below so we can say a prayer for you. (itunes link) (source code)

35. WordPress – Client for managing WordPress blogs. Also has an iPad version. (itunes link) (source code)

36. YourRights – Pocket database containing a summary of your legal rights. (itunes link) (source code)

* 37. ZBar – A barcode reader. (itunes link) (source code)

Check them out if you are working on something similar or think they might have a feature you could use there’s no reason to re-invent the wheel.  Always make sure you understand the licenses though many are GPL and require that you open source your app.

Please Share And Comment

Please click here to share this list with others by tweeting about it.

If you’ve found or have released another open source iPhone or iPad app that has been in the app store then please mention it in the comments.

If you see this list copied someplace else please mention it in the comments.

Or if you have any other thoughts please mention them below, thanks.

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

Since then I’ve come across several tutorials that have really helped get more out of this library, and add some pretty cool functionality to iPhone apps.

First of all, the best place to find out how to use and do more with Three20 is the Three20 Google Group.  These guys continuously share tips, and will answer all your questions about the library.

A couple of super useful tutorials that I’ve found are from Matt Vague:

Three20 Stylesheets – enables you to CSS like stylesheets within your apps.
Three20 TTTableItemTutorial – Make very cool custom tableview cells.

If you’re just getting started Ray Wenderlich has created a very straightforward beginners tutorial: Introduction To Three20

This is a very cool utility library that you will want to check out if you haven’t.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

The two apps are reMail, a popular e-mail client that was purchased by Google that provides quick searching, and RobotFindsKitten, a classic DOS ASCII type game ported to run on the iPhone.

reMail is pretty slick, it downloads all your e-mails, and allows you to search them at a very high speed vs. the iPhone’s mail app, apparently it was good enough for Google to buy.

Thanks to Bunnyhero for mentioning Robotsfindkitten.

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.

Here are some of the features:

Autoload system, explicitly include only Autoload.php and all classes are loaded on-demand.

Message class, to build a notification payload.

Push class, to push one or more messages to Apple Push Notification service.

Feedback class, to query the Apple Feedback service to get the list of broken device tokens.

Push Server class, to create a Push Server with one or more (forked) processes reading from a common message queue.

Log class/interface, to log to standard output or for custom logging purpose.

The APNS-PHP project can be found here and it looks like it should be a great time saver.

©2010 iPhone iOS 4 iPad SDK Development Tutorials, Programming Tips, News. All Rights Reserved.